With the energy and direction of a children’s TV presenter on acid, Caroline Mabey is a mischievous distractable delight. Stepping into the show with audience-Tetris, she woos and cajoles, consolidating rows to form a more tightly packed audience, promptly turning rogue with a twinkle and pouncing on her new front row once everyone is in place. She’s a menace with funny bones.
It soon becomes clear that this is a work in progress unbilled as such, with bits of paper guiding Mabey through the hour with small songs to herself and “umms” as she returns to find her place in the chronology of the material, with wild flights of fancy and audience interactions derailing the structure at a whim. Talent won’t be stopped though, and her tangents and terrifying of the audience bear easy comedy fruit. Like being intensely tickled, there’s a child-like intense fun in the light terrorising.
The show-proper does have some glimpses into what is to come once it’s been polished up, memorised and finished. It’s enjoyably satisfying as she delves into her policies and tips on farts, parenthood, and booze, handling what could be heavy subjects with a light touch and deep diving into the more frivolous ones. But it’s the off-script safaris that show her natural comedy flair.
Caroline Mabey may well ruin your life (as the title of the show suggests) with unsolicited advice and libellous suggestions about liaisons in lay-bys, but what a fun and anarchic way to go if she does.
Laughing Horse @ Caroline of Brunswick, 7 May 2024, 7pm
https://www.brightonfringe.org/events/caroline-mabey-will-ruin-your-life
